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STATUES
IN
PUNTA DEL SAPOTE.
lUNTA DEL SAPOTE forms a broad, rounded peninsula, the greatest
II,
length of which is in N.E. and S.W. Its middle part is a large plateau,
fiUMfWg’si about 150 m. high, sloping rapidly both towards the lake and the
AipA neck of the peninsula, and thus forming an isolated height of
somewhat more than one kilometer in length by scarcely one kilometer in breadth.
The central portion of this plateau is perfectly level and, judging by the
numerous statues met with here, and the regular form of the stone-mounds, round
which they were placed, appears to have been a sacred place during the
Niquiran period. On the very isthmus between the peninsula and the island
of Zapatera rose a conical stone-structure, 30—40 m. high; it consisted
of enormous, unhewn blocks, placed upon one another in pretty regular
layers. Its diameter at the base might be estimated at about 40 m. The
top of the cone was truncated, and appeared to form a plane of 6—8 m. in
diameter. The steep sides were so densely covered by spinous bushes and
lians, that I was soon obliged to desist from my attempts to mount the summit.
The whole structure resembled a kind of beacon, and has possibly been a place
of sacrifice, although its dimensions were so large, that it cannot well be
regarded as such a «sacrificial pillar» as is mentioned by PETER MARTYR under
the name of «Tezarit». Maybe a little «casita» has stood on the platform
above. Something of the same kind is known from Uxmal.
Due north of this cone, on the top of the above mentioned plateau,
were six stone-mounds of oval form, but of very different size. The largest
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